Mail Order Brides: Learn Where & How to Find a Foreign Wife in 2023
For centuries, the mail order bride industry has been on the rise, and it’s still going strong today. In this guide, you’ll find all the information you should know about how this market actually works, who mail order brides really are, as well as the top websites where you can find a foreign wife.
Key info about mail order brides
| ✈️ Best countries to find mail order brides | Ukraine, Philippines, Colombia |
| 💌 Best mail order bride sites | SofiaDate, UkraineBride4you, TheLuckyDate |
| ❤️ Best international dating sites | JollyRomance, La-Date, Easternhoneys |
| ℹ️ Best way to mail order a wife | Mail order bride & international dating sites |
| 💸 Average cost of mail order bride | from $4,000 to 24,000 |
| ⚖️ Legitimacy of mail-order marriages | Yes |
Mail order brides: Who are these women?
what is a mail order bride? Mail order bride is a woman who is intentionally looking for a husband in another country and is ready to immigrate to his country if she meets him. Here are some facts you should know about modern mail order wives, their motivation, expectations, specific characteristics, etc.:
- Reasons for getting married overseas. A mail order bride’s motivation is usually explained by multiple factors: social, political, economic, personal, etc., but it isn’t explained by financial motivation or a sole desire to immigrate—that’s just another myth.
- Location. Most mail order brides come from Eastern European, Latin, and Asian countries.
- Age. Foreign wives are usually pretty young—most are raised in cultures where women get married at a pretty early age, in their mid- and late 20s, and that explains their strong motivation to start a family.
- Major goals. Contrary to popular belief, such women are looking for a decent man, not for a benefactor—on niche websites, they are no less careful with their choices than women on mainstream dating sites.
So, a mail order bride is a woman who wants to get married and is focused on finding a decent partner in a foreign country just because she believes she’ll have a better chance to meet him overseas.
How to get a mail order bride?
As we’ve noted previously, most mail order brides come from 3 regions: Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. There are also specific countries with the highest number of foreign wives, and you can see them, as well as some statistics in the table below.
Sources:
- https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/NIVDetailTables/FY19NIVDetailTable.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_age_at_first_marriage
Finding a mail order wife isn’t the most complex, yet also not the simplest task. If you don’t know where to start and want to avoid disappointments and scams, you can take a few simple steps that will help you get the best result possible.
🌎 Choose a mail order bride country
At this stage, you need to do some research and learn more about the national characteristics of people in the above-mentioned regions. Find information on local women’s views and values, attitude towards traditional gender roles, dating culture, etc. Try to understand where you’ll have the best chance to meet a dream woman and narrow the search from the country. The more you know about who you can meet on a dating site, the better your chance to succeed and build a healthy relationship.
❤️ Choose a trusted dating site
At this stage, you need to do some research and learn more about the national characteristics of people in the above-mentioned regions. Find information on local women’s views and values, attitude towards traditional gender roles, dating culture, etc. Try to understand where you’ll have the best chance to meet a dream woman and narrow the search from the country. The more you know about who you can meet on a dating site, the better your chance to succeed and build a healthy relationship.
✅ Sign up & create a good profile
At this stage, you need to do some research and learn more about the national characteristics of people in the above-mentioned regions. Find information on local women’s views and values, attitude towards traditional gender roles, dating culture, etc. Try to understand where you’ll have the best chance to meet a dream woman and narrow the search from the country. The more you know about who you can meet on a dating site, the better your chance to succeed and build a healthy relationship.
💬 Start interacting with mail order brides
Don’t make a common mistake—don’t focus on appearance only. Choose mail order brides carefully, ensure this might be the right person for you, and contact the ladies you like most. On good sites, there are a lot of communication features to use at different stages. For example, you can send free winks to find out if another person is interested in communication, then contact a woman in live chat, and then move on to other services, start video chats, make phone calls, send long Mails, exchange photos, and videos, etc.
💑 Start a relationship with one of the mail order brides
Get closer to a woman you consider to be special, build an emotional connection online using advanced communication tools like video chat and maybe even real gift delivery services. Keep in touch, talk about really important things, try to become a part of her life, and integrate her into your own life, too. Then set up a date in real life and meet in her country or a third country to ensure she is the one.
📋 Help your bride get a K-1 visa and invite her to the US
If you are sure that you’ve found a soulmate and are ready to propose to your mail order bride, you’ll also need to consider that she’ll need a visa to enter the US and marry you. You’ll need to apply for a K-1 visa together, prove that you have an authentic relationship and that you’ve met in real life, have an interview, and then wait until the visa is issued. After your bride gets it, she’ll be able to enter the US and marry you within 90 days.
Best sites to get a mail order bride
1. SofiaDate
BEST FOR:
Meeting single mail order brides from all over the globe
Our Experts Say:
Sofia Date is one of the mail order brides services that works for ladies from different regions, but currently, it has most female members in Slavic countries. It has pretty much everything that a good website with Eastern European women is supposed to have—super detailed profiles, Mail service and good online messenger, a system of file exchange, and a transparent pricing policy.
More Information
SofiaDate
Gender ratio:
47%
53%
Visits/Month:
639K
2. TheLuckyDate
BEST FOR:
Beginners who like mainstream dating apps but are now looking for mail order brides
Our Experts Say:
TheLuckyDate is a unique platform—unlike other mail order bride services, it doesn’t offer users a complex system but something convenient, something they all got used to. This mail order bride site works pretty much like Tinder or another mainstream dating app, but the quality of features, as well as of the profiles, is much, much higher.
More Information
TheLuckyDate CIS
Gender ratio:
40%
60%
Visits/Month:
597.5K
3. UkraineBride4you
BEST FOR:
Men who’d like to meet mail order brides & make video and phone calls
Our Experts Say:
As the name of the site suggests, it’s one of the platforms where you can find mail order brides from Ukraine, as well as from some other Slavic countries. It’s also one of the best mail order bride websites in terms of quality of the features—here, members can not only find a perfect match, see detailed profiles, and enjoy texting but also make phone and video calls.
More Information
UkraineBride4you
Gender ratio:
42%
58%
Visits/Month:
28K
4. SakuraDate
BEST FOR:
Men looking for a new promising site with Asian mail order brides
Our Experts Say:
SakuraDate was launched not so long ago, but it has already become pretty popular, mostly because this mail order brides service takes matchmaking and profile quality standards pretty seriously. Here, you won’t find low-effort pages of foreign girls and will be able to use multiple communication features, in particular, exchange photos and videos with the ladies you like best.
More Information
SakuraDate
Gender ratio:
44%
56%
Visits/Month:
27.6K
5. ColombiaLady
BEST FOR:
Finding a perfect match among thousands of Latin mail order brides
Our Experts Say:
Though it may seem that this website connects Western guys with mail order brides from Colombia only, it’s actually one of the most popular Latin mail order brides services with tens of thousands of registered members from Brazil, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and other countries. Free advanced search and free matchmaking, along with special communication features like CamShare help this site stand out in the market for decades.
More Information
ColombiaLady
Gender ratio:
42%
58%
Visits/Month:
13.2K
6. MeetSlavicGirls
BEST FOR:
Enjoying safe online dating experience & communicating with young Slavic brides
Our Experts Say:
As the name of the website suggests, MeetSlavicGirls is one of the mail order bride sites where men can meet single women from Slavic countries like Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Russia. What makes it stand out? First, all women here must verify their profiles and make them really detailed. Second, most ladies share videos. Third, this is the place where you can call Eastern European women in real time and use translation services, if necessary.
More Information
MeetSlavicGirls
Gender ratio:
43%
57%
Visits/Month:
209K
Best countries to meet mail order brides
| Country | Number of K-1 visa applicants to the US in 2019 | Average age of brides | Fertility rate (births per woman) | Main facts about brides |
| Ukraine | 860 | 25.9 | 1.4 | Considered one of the best places to find a wife, strong institution of the family, the strong impact of western culture, high education level |
| The Philippines | 7,529 | 25.3 | 2.4 | Country with the highest marriage immigration rate, attraction to foreigners, devotion to a relationship & family-mindedness |
| Mexico | 1,676 | 30.5 | 2 | High intermarriage rates due to geographical and cultural closeness, loyalty to family as the main aim of life |
| Poland | 135 | 27 | 1.5 | One of the most westernized Slavic countries to find a wife, positive attitude toward foreigners, high education level |
| Japan | 541 | 30 | 1.4 | High intermarriage rate, many employed and successful brides, positive attitude toward foreigners |
| Brazil | 1,065 | 30 | 1.7 | One of the best Latin mail order bride countries, large number of singles looking for relationships with foreigners, hedonistic values, devotion to a family |
Success stories with mail order brides
How much does it cost to mail order a bride?
A man can’t just pay for a mail order wife, but he can meet her on one of the international dating sites, start a relationship, and then marry his girlfriend. Of course, there are some expenditures, and we estimated the approximate amounts one will need to pay for using different types of services. Note that these are just the average prices—the real costs depend on multiple factors, from the location of a bride to the frequency of your dates in real life.
- Cost of online dating services: Around $100 per month, $1,200 a year
- One week travel (tickets + hotel): $1,500
- Visa and documents: $1,200
- Wedding: $50 — $20,000
- Total: $4,000 — 24,000
So, the cost of getting a mail order bride can be as low as $4,000, so it’s less expensive than many people think. However, a lot will depend on the choices you make at different stages when dating online and offline.
Are mail order spouses illegal in your country?
Are mail order brides and mail order brides websites illegal? No, they aren’t—mail order brides are just foreign single women, while mail order bride services just provide online dating services, and their businesses have nothing to do with arranged marriages or something. Need more details? Then take a look at some specific requirements for citizens of different countries.
- 🇺🇸 The USA
A mail order bride needs to apply for a K-1 visa if she wants to marry an American citizen in the US. A foreign wife of an American citizen needs to apply for a foreign relative visa. - 🇬🇧 The UK
Girlfriends and brides of citizens of the UK can get an Unmarried Partner visa, Fiancee visa, or as in the case of the US, a spouse visa. - 🇨🇦 Canada
In Canada, a citizen must become a sponsor for an unmarried partner or a spouse, fill in the application and confirm that they are ready to support a person they’re inviting financially. - 🇦🇺 Australia
Mail order brides who want to marry an Australian can choose between a Prospective Marriage visa or a Partner Visa. - 🇳🇿 New Zealand
In this case, foreign brides can choose between a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa or Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa, and considering that only the second one is permanent, applying for it definitely makes more sense.
Note that in all cases, grooms and their mail order brides will need to prove that their relationships are authentic and that they’ve met in real life before they decided to get married.
Common myths about mail order women
We bet you heard about mail order brides controversies. But are all those assumptions facts or just myths? Take a look at some of the most common stereotypes about foreign women for marriage:
❌ Myth #1 — You can easily marry a stranger, and she won’t expect much from you
Filipina mail order brides, Russian women for marriage, Ukrainian girls, and Latin singles are likely to be more picky than you expect. These ladies are looking for a future husband, and they are 100% motivated to build authentic and most importantly, happy relationships.
❌ Myth #2 — A mail order bride will divorce you right after she gets a Green Card
In fact, the divorce rate for marriages with mail order brides is even lower—only around 40% of marriages with foreign women end in divorce, and that’s a better rate compared to the divorce rates for couples who were born in the same country.
❌ Myth #3 — All mail order brides are unemployed and looking for a benefactor
Mail order brides you can meet online usually have careers and some are even running their own businesses. Also, most women on mail order bride websites hate it when men act as if they can attract them
❌ Myth #4 — All women on mail order bride websites are divorced and already have children
You can meet such women on mail order brides sites, of course, but most are single girls in their late twenties or early thirties. A lot of them have never been married and expect to start a family with a decent man.
How to avoid mail order bride scams?
If you’re going to use international dating services you should follow certain safety rules that will help you avoid scammers and fakes. Here are some of the most important of them:
- Carefully check the mail order bride site before you make a payment. Pay special attention to moderation, the registration process, requirements for female members, and the pricing policy.
- Pay enough attention to profile quality and a member’s photos and videos. Make sure that this is the same person, there are no weirdnesses and controversies, and check the photos using Google search by image, if necessary.
- Never send money. Never do it under any circumstances, no matter who asks for it and no matter how close you think you are.
- Beware if things are moving too fast. Often it just means that a scammer is trying to gain your trust.
- Don’t believe in excuses. If a mail order bride doesn’t agree to accept a video call or meet in real life, it’s likely to be a scam.
If you want to meet a foreign bride online, you should be careful. But if you follow these simple rules and remember that they have no exceptions, you’ll be able to avoid all the dangers and mistakes and succeed.
Conclusion
Marrying foreign women has been a social trend for decades, and it remains a trend even now. The mail order bride industry has just transformed and evolved, and that’s definitely a good thing. Today, on sites like SofiaDate, people living thousands of miles from each other can build deep emotional connections online, make more conscious choices, and start authentic relationships even before they meet in real life. So, if you believe that a marriage with a mail order wife will make you happy, you can give it a try—if you follow the rules, you have a good chance to change your life for the better.
FAQ
What is a mail order bride?
A mail order bride is a foreign marriage-minded woman, most often from Eastern Europe, Asia, or Latin America, who’s looking for a Western husband. She’s not ready to immigrate at all costs and doesn’t receive any kind of payment for marrying a foreign man. Mail-order brides are looking for decent husbands to build happy and healthy families so they join international dating sites, search for the best matches, and build authentic relationships with their foreign boyfriends, and if everything goes right, marry them.
How many mail-order marriages end in divorce?
Around 40% of marriages with mail order brides end in divorce. It shows that such marriages are even less likely to end in divorce than marriages between the citizens of one country, including the US where around half of all marriages end in breakup.
What should I do if I want a mail order bride?
You need to choose the region where you’d like to find a mail order wife, then choose one of the mail order brides sites that accept women from this region, create a profile, upgrade your profile, or buy credits, and start searching for matches. After you find a special woman and start dating her online, you need to meet her in real life, and if everything goes right, get married.
Can I mail order a bride by myself?
You can’t literally mail order a wife online. You can only join one of the international dating sites with foreign brides or mail order brides websites, meet ladies, start a relationship with one of them online, meet in real life, and only in this case, you’ll be able to marry a foreign girl—that’s how the system actually works.
What should I do if I want to be a mail order bride?
You should find a good mail order bride site that accepts women from your country or region (for example, if you’re from Ukraine, choose the site with Ukrainian mail order brides, not just an international dating site), follow all the requirements (provide photos, verify your identity, share some videos, etc.) and start communicating with foreign men online.
